TCB > January 2005

A slightly rogue website has been set up evidently to tell the musicians' side of the strike/work stoppage/lockout/whatever story; it's also shrewd PR for the various community events musicians continue to particpate in while Powell Hall sits silent.

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Mon., Jan 31, 2005 at 11:26 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Business District

[SNIA may be the only neighborhood association in the city that issues press releases about its elections.]

JANUARY 27, 2005, St. Louis, Missouri ... The not-for-profit Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association (SNIA), which has served residents in the historic Shaw neighborhood near the Missouri Botanical Garden since 1958, has elected new executive officers for 2005. Each officer will serve a one-year term.

Mary Samuelson, a senior research manager at Maritz, Inc., has been elected SNIA President.

Barry Kirk, a marketing strategist for Maritz, Inc., has been elected SNIA's 1st Vice President.

Elizabeth Jones, a real estate investor and manager, has been elected SNIA 2nd Vice President.

John Quartuccio, president of Golden Age Restoration, Inc., has been elected SNIA Assistant Secretary.

Heather Mraz, a study leader at Battelle Memorial Institute Centers for Public Health Research, has been elected SNIA Treasurer.

Georgia Wells, who is retired from the Missouri Department of Mental Health, has been elected SNIA Assistant Treasurer.

"Each new SNIA board member is passionate about our neighborhood and working as a team player to serve local residents and businesses to enhance its beauty, diversity and quality of life," Ms. Samuelson said.

SNIA promotes historic renovation, new construction, safety and business development in the Shaw neighborhood, which has experienced a tremendous residential renaissance and new developments in recent years.

SNIA and its committees also organize the annual Historic Shaw Art Fair, a nationally renowned juried exhibition featuring more than 120 different artists from across the U.S., and the Historic Shaw Holiday Home Tour, a popular annual tradition that showcases historic homes and mansions throughout the neighborhood.

More than 7,500 people in 3,700 households live in the Shaw neighborhood, which is bounded by Grand Boulevard on the east, Tower Grove Park on the south, the Missouri Botanical Garden on the west and I-44 on the north.

SNIA offices are located at 2211 South 39th Street. For more information, please call 314-771-3101.

Posted by Brian Marston on Mon., Jan 31, 2005 at 2:19 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | People

Tuition at local universities continues to climb. SLU is hiking undergrad tuition to $24,760 next fall. Wash U is raising tuition to $31,100; room and board is another $10,754.

Anyone who's actually paying that much needs to have his head examined. As someone who had all of his tuition, room and board covered by merit-based scholarships (thanks Bright Flight, Curators, Citibank, Meryl Bartlett, Ruth Earline Taylor Allen, Alta Mae Harness, Elizabeth Jennison, Charles W. Frees and Robert C. Byrd!), I just can't see spending that much money for an undergrad degree. Starting out post-college life $160,000 in the hole seems like a bad way to go.

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jan 28, 2005 at 9:31 AM
Link & Discuss (2 comments) | Other

The St. Louis Argus launched its online forums yesterday. Antonio French, the paper's news editor, calls the Argus "St. Louis' true alt-weekly."

Speaking of online forums, the best ones in St. Louis are at readjulia.com. They're very active and populated by smart, funny people (unlike the trolls that hang out on the STLtoday boards). Julia's forums manage to be cozy without being xenophobic.

Posted by Brian Marston on Thu., Jan 27, 2005 at 3:42 PM
Link & Discuss (3 comments) | The Media

Julia Smillie has lots of new photos of past Free Candy shows up at freecandy.net.

Posted by Brian Marston on Wed., Jan 26, 2005 at 12:39 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | The Commonspace

There's a nice article about The Commonspace by Julie Randle in today's South Side Journal and South City Journal.

Posted by Brian Marston on Wed., Jan 26, 2005 at 11:19 AM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | The Commonspace

Mike Sampson, the host of KWMU's "St. Louis on the Air" program, passed away today. He was 53. The cause of death is unknown.

Mike Sampson became the host of "St. Louis on the Air" in 2003 after the show's previous host, Greg Freeman, died at age 46.

Posted by Brian Marston on Thu., Jan 20, 2005 at 6:52 PM
Link & Discuss (1 comment) | The Media

For the bleeding hearts who yearn for the return of the Great Liberal Hope, Ray Hartmann, to the STL media scene, rumor is that he is in negotiations with the St. Louis Journalism Review to be their DB (designated blogger). Stay tuned...

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Thu., Jan 20, 2005 at 11:03 AM
Link & Discuss (2 comments) | The Media

Fans of art and fans of spunky Erin Kuechler can indulge both interests at her newly unveiled web site. I'm a particular fan of "We All Scream," in the gallery. Like, could we just settle this all over a bomb pop?

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Tue., Jan 18, 2005 at 10:21 AM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | People

The Settle the Score 2004 DVD Teaser (QuickTime, 6.1 MB) is out, and it is hot! This disc will put St. Louis' underground dance scene on the map (even though all of the finalists at the event were from out of town). It hits the streets on March 18.

Posted by Brian Marston on Mon., Jan 17, 2005 at 11:56 AM
Link & Discuss (1 comment) | The Commonspace

Yuri Lane brings together two great tastes that taste great together: beatbox and the harmonica.

For some straight-up beatboxing, check out this and this.

Word to the mothership!

Posted by Brian Marston on Sat., Jan 15, 2005 at 11:55 PM
Link & Discuss (1 comment) | Fun Links

Hometown recording heavyweights Chingy and Nelly are feuding. In a recent MTV interview, Chingy said, "I'm tired of these guys — I'm talking about Ludacris and Nelly — I'm tired of these guys taking shots at me ..." Apparently, multi-platinum rappers have feelings, too. In classic beef-fueled hip-hop style, the Power Balla fired back at the Lunatic with a dis track called "We Got." Some sample lyrics:

Better keep my name out your mouth, boy
I been discovered, boy; that's why you hatin', boy
The media hyped you, boy
KRS crushed you, boy
Put up the chains, bars and the platinum teeth, boy
And bring the drama beef, trouble to the streets, boy
You started it, boy
Well, I'mma finish, boy

Which leads one to wonder, "Couldn't Chingy think of anything to rhyme with 'boy' besides 'boy?'"

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jan 14, 2005 at 9:04 PM
Link & Discuss (289 comments) | People

The St. Louis Argus has a nice-looking new web site, including a blog. I'm guessing Antonio French, former publisher of the Public Defender and current news editor of the Argus, is the driving force behind bringing Missouri's oldest black business online. The domain name registration is listed in his name.

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jan 14, 2005 at 8:24 PM
Link & Discuss (5 comments) | The Media

There's a story by Judith Vandewater in the business section of today's Post about the Urban Knitters. The print edition features a couple of photos of the group that were taken at Hartford Coffee Company.

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jan 14, 2005 at 7:34 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | The Commonspace

Last night during a discussion about Melanie Blunt's ridiculous inauguration outfit on Donnybrook, the show's fossilized, slow talking provocateur Martin Duggan asked Wendy Wiese, "Who is Deb Peterson?" He was serious. Uh, Martin, if you're a media critic, shouldn't you keep up with, you know, the media?

Also, in a majority black city, why aren't there any black people on Donnybrook? Or young(er) people? Or more than one woman?

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jan 14, 2005 at 3:28 PM
Link & Discuss (4 comments) | The Media

Breakin' @ The Commonspace lives on in this new video by Grand (Windows Media Video, 8.2 MB).

Posted by Brian Marston on Wed., Jan 12, 2005 at 5:37 PM
Link & Discuss (1 comment) | The Commonspace

Sell your old-economy record label stock now: Marc Chechik (of the luminous Waterloo and Melody Den) tips that the band's next album will never see the light of an analog day. The material will be recorded digitally using ProTools and GarageBand and released digitally via I-Tunes, with some album art and such worked up to accompany it, but no physical CDs will be pressed.

Crazy kids.

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Sat., Jan 8, 2005 at 12:14 AM
Link & Discuss (1 comment) | Other

In other election news, it's three hours before the nomination deadline for Metropolis' steering committee elections, and according to the organization's web site, four out of 11 positions are empty. There are no contested races.

Here is the list of candidates:

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jan 7, 2005 at 2:00 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Other

Steve Patterson is running for 25th Ward Alderman against incumbent Dorothy Kirner. The 25th Ward includes parts of the Dutchtown, Mount Pleasant and Carondelet neighborhoods.

Today is the deadline for filing for the 3/8/05 election. For a list of candidates, see the Board of Elections site. Of note: not a single Republican has filed for any office.

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jan 7, 2005 at 1:33 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | People

From Atlanta-based Civic Strategies:

Steve Patterson's Urban Review - St. Louis is a more biting version of Larry Felton Johnson's Atlanta blog about urban design. Patterson is angry at a lot he sees around him, and he's particularly steamed about the demolition of revered old buildings. (One of his postings was titled "I'm Still Too Angry to Talk About the Century Building.") Urban Review - St. Louis is part of a collection of blogs called the STL Syndicate (including Blog St. Louis and Commonspace). What does it say about St. Louis that it is nurturing the best urblogs in the country? Perhaps simply that somebody cares in River City. You can find Urban Review - St. Louis at http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/. 

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jan 7, 2005 at 1:00 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | People

Rumors swirl around the man like low-hanging cumulus clouds: He doesn't get paid, but just loves to do the weather! Students line up to study under his tutelage! He has a hook instead of a left hand! (Okay, we made that one up...)

But now, our very own public radio weatherman, Ben Abell, has exposed himself to the nation at large, admitting, among other things, that tracking all this bad weather is exciting to meteorologists, in an interview Wednesday on NPR's "All Things Considered".

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Wed., Jan 5, 2005 at 6:20 PM
Link & Discuss (2 comments) | STL in the News

The STL Syndicate has a new member: STL A La Mode, which promises to deliver "the Scoop on St. Louis shopping and dining." Send your sweet tips to tips@stlalamode.com.

Posted by Brian Marston on Tue., Jan 4, 2005 at 4:09 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Business District

This just in, from Nico at KDHX-FM 88.1:

KDHX Top Ten releases of 2004 (by airplay)

1. Various Artists - Brown Eyed Handsome Man: Saint Louis Salutes the
Father of Rock & Roll
2. Tom Waits - Real Gone
3. Magnetic Fields - i
4. Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man
5. The Phonocaptors - Call It What You Want
6. Calexico - Convict Pool EP
7. Jay Farrar - Stone, Steel & Bright Lights
8. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
9. PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
10. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

So now you know.

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Tue., Jan 4, 2005 at 2:38 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | The Media

Our orchestra strike/lock-out makes the NY Times, sadly. Now, has anyone told David Robertson not to pack everything yet?

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Tue., Jan 4, 2005 at 11:16 AM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | STL in the News

In times of political disagreement, the budgetary backlash begins: apparently City Hall has decided Landmarks Association is too squawky for its britches (scroll down to "Wreck This") again, and will put its long-standing contract out for bid. (We last heard this story at the beginning of the Century debacle, and now it appears the chickens are coming home to roost.)

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Mon., Jan 3, 2005 at 10:29 AM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Other